Small steps to great strides: Intel and its communities celebrate Earth Day 2011

For Intel employees, mobilizing to protecting the natural environment is not confined to just one day of the year. To celebrate Earth Day, employees across Asia-Pacific volunteer their time for various environmental activities running throughout April.

For Earth Day 2011, participation was particularly strong. Volunteers expanded existing programs and implemented new ones as diverse as educational roadshows, recycling projects, reforestation and organic farming. In all, Intel employees are playing substantial roles in community-led initiatives.

India

For Intel India, Earth Day 2011 meant joining forces with non-government organizations to help turn small ideas into big contributions to the environment.

A group of enthusiastic employees known internally as the ‘Green Minds’ worked with non-government organizations including Trees for Free, Rain Water Harvesting and Eco Watch, to host an environmental roadshow in four locations across Bangalore. The events delivered information to local communities about responsible use of plastic, organic gardening, solid waste management and wildlife conservation.

Volunteers were available to answer questions and provoke discussion on relevant issues and encourage greater involvement in environmental initiatives. Intel partner Divya Jyothi Jagrati Sansthan (DJJS) – an international non-profit organization which promotes social and spiritual initiatives – distributed medicinal herbal plants to participants who pledged "I'm in to improve the planet". Employees pledged to grow one sapling themselves and motivate a friend to grow another.

The roadshows were a great success, with 600 Intel employees signing up to participate in various ‘Earth Month’ activities.

Korea

In Korea, Intel collaborated with the Korea Environmental Education Association to regenerate vegetation near the village of Kodeungri in Chung Nam Province.

Fourteen Intel employees and their friends and families planted more than 50 plum trees on a nearby mountain. Local children will be caretakers of the trees as they grow, with each child marking their name on a tree. The initiative will become an annual event, as will the seasonal collection of plums.

Malaysia

Intel Malaysia continued its work with Malaysian Newsprint Industries (MNI) by running its annual recycling campaign.

The ‘Recycling – We’re in’ campaign, now in its sixth year, aims to educate community members on the importance and mechanics of recycling. The program has been extended to 45 Malaysian universities since it began and the amount of waste collected has increased year-on-year.

In 2010, the recycling project ‘Solid Waste Collection’ involved 22 primary and secondary schools around Penang and Kulim. The schools competed for the greatest amount of recycled material and collected 65 tons of solid waste. Intel Malaysia provided 20 laptops as prizes to the winning schools.

Singapore

Intel is working with the team at the Singapore Botanic Gardens to protect endangered species. For Earth Day 2011, 26 Intel volunteers helped to plant 40 endangered rainforest saplings, giving the plants a safe new home.

This is the second year Intel Singapore has taken part in the program, which aims to nurture the plants into the next century.

Taiwan

Intel Taiwan joined with The Society of Wilderness for ‘Family Earth Day’, with a total of 90 employees and family and friends gathering in Yilan Shuanglian Reservoir Wetland.

To extend the work of Intel Taiwan beyond Earth Day, 15 Intel employees have volunteered to dedicate their free time to conservation work at Wanli and Yangmingshan national parks.

Meeting twice a month, Intel employees and their families are working towards recovering local wetland plants by making ponds, digging irrigation ditches and removing weeds which are harmful to the growth of native species.

Vietnam

In 2008 Intel Vietnam partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Vinh Cuu Nature Reserve to act as the caretaker group for 1.8 hectares of ‘Intel Forest’. Earth Day 2011 was marked by continuing the support of this project, with 128 Intel volunteers currently involved.

Intel Vietnam also partnered with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment and Saigon Hi-Tech Park to host Ho Chi Minh City Waste Recycling Day. The day aimed to educate the public on Intel environmental programs such as 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). Stalls at the event helped community members learn how they could contribute.